Considering that silence has long been intertwined with ritual and spiritual practice, we explore how digital technology might support silence thereby allowing space for reflection, attunement, and meaning-making. How does the Chinese aesthetic concept of liubai(留白,“empty space”) open up new ways of designing for noticing and reflection? In this paper, we present lived experiences of shared silence and meditation within a one-month artist residency. By weaving together field study with interview data, first-person inquiry and artistic artefacts, we offer empirical insights at the intersection of art, spirituality, and HCI. Through this study, the residency became a site to both experiment with artistic practice and explore silence as a positive and creative practice for attentive noticing. We discuss dwelling in the in-between, the art of liubai in design, a technical inward turn, and posthuman perspectives to inform a design agenda for techno-spirituality with broader implications for future research in HCI.

Technology has become deeply woven into the practices of faith communities who engage in shared prayer, online worship, or meditation. Despite a growing body of research on religious/spiritual practices, the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community has yet to fully investigate Techno-Spirituality, especially through a first-person approach. We explored prayer experiences to understand which elements evoke such experiences from a Christian perspective. We present results from an eight-month autoethnographic study of private prayer by the first author, also a community member, while incorporating both technological (e.g., a Muse 2 electroencephalogram headband) and non-technological (e.g., religious iconography) media. We reflect on emerging practices and limitations of integrating technology during Christian prayer. This paper provides empirical insights on spiritual practices with technologies, and contributes to discourses on Techno-Spirituality in HCI.